MAILBAG CALL-OUT
We’re getting ready for our next monthly Jets mailbag, which will go online in early March.
Got a question about the hockey club?
Simply hit reply to this email and Mike and Ken will try to tackle it.
FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: Absence makes the heart grow fonder? I’m not so sure when it comes to the Jets, who didn’t exactly leave home on a high note prior to the Olympic break with a pair of ugly 5-1 losses to the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens.
There’s also the burning question of what kind of reception Hellebuyck might receive as he plays here for the first time since leading the United States to a gold medal victory over Canada, then cozying up with President Donald Trump at the White House a few days later.
Members of the United States’ Olympic hockey team, goalie Connor Hellebuyck in front, attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington last month. (Kenny Holston / The Associated Press files)
Hellebuyck, for the record, has yet to speak with media. He wasn’t made available by the team on the just-completed road trip, took the option to not attend Monday’s practice and has a strict policy of never speaking on game days. We’re expecting to hear from him Wednesday, but obviously that is subject to change as well.
The Jets haven’t made a ton of hay at home this year, with just a 12-11-5 record. They’ll play 13 of their final 23 games at the downtown barn.
Today marks the final “bonus day” for Toews, who will play his 60th game of the season and collect his fifth and final $550,000 regular-season bonus for hitting that mark, turning his base salary of US $2 million into an overall payout of US $4.75 million.
Toews has gone nine straight games without a point and has just one assist in his last 13 outings since a four-game goal scoring streak came to an end in mid-January.
He is currently skating on a line with Gustav Nyquist, who is still searching for his first goal with the Jets as he suits up for his 39th game, and Manitoba Moose call-up Walker Duehr, who didn’t look out of place at all as he made his debut with the Jets.
KEN SAYS: Having just covered the three-game road trip featuring three consecutive games that required overtime, ending in one win and two losses for the Jets, it’s quite something to see the struggles the Jets have endured this season in games that have gone beyond regulation.
Overtime used to be the Jets’ superpower, with many games ending early thanks to some pretty play converted by one of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor or Josh Morrissey, whose ability to create two-on-ones during the three-on-three session made them difficult to contain.
With Sunday’s loss, the Jets have dropped 10 of the past 11 games that went to either overtime or a shootout.
For a team that’s staring up at a 10-point deficit in the chase for the final playoff spot in the West, their 3-10 record in extra time is an obvious factor in where they sit in the standings. So is their 9-11-10 record in one-goal games this season, a stark contrast from the season prior, when they were outstanding in the same scenario.
At one point, the Jets dropped 13 consecutive games that were decided by a goal and that’s another big reason they’re on the outside looking in.
In Sunday’s game, Morgan Barron scored the lone goal for the Jets, ripping a high shot over the glove of Alex Nedeljkovic in the first period.
Morgan Barron celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the first period against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday in San Jose, Calif. (Godofredo A. Vásquez / The Associated Press)
Barron had another chance to give the Jets the lead on a partial breakaway while shorthanded, but he was denied by Nedeljokovic, who made a good save to allow Michael Misa to win it in overtime.
Barron is up to eight goals and 18 points in 50 games this season, which leaves him three goals and three points shy of his career high in each category.
It’s been an interesting season for Barron, whose strong start to the campaign included two goals and five points in nine games. But Barron snapped a 20-game goal-scoring drought on Sunday and also had a 19-game goal slump this season as well, otherwise, he’d be north of double digits comfortably and probably pushing for somewhere in the neighbourhood of 15.
There’s been some debate about whether Barron could benefit from an enhanced role rather than holding down the fourth-line centre role. Count me in the group that would like to see Barron playing higher up in the lineup, either with Adam Lowry or Jonathan Toews, which would also open the door for Danny Zhilkin to get some additional playing time in at 4C.
As for the Blackhawks, Connor Bedard is up to 25 goals and 55 points in 47 games and he’s settling back into the groove after returning from an upper-body injury. Bedard has five goals and nine points in eight career games against the Jets.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Perfetti-Lowry-Iafallo
- Nyquist-Toews-Duehr
- Koepke-Barron-Pearson
DEFENCE
- Samberg-Salomonsson
- Stanley-DeMelo
- Fleury-Schenn
GOAL
Healthy scratches: D Heinola
Injured: D Morrissey (upper-body), D Pionk (lower-body), D Miller (lower-body), LW Niederreiter (lower-body), F Namestnikov (lower-body)
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
FORWARDS
- Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky
- Donato-Nazar-Teravainen
- Bertuzzi-Dickinson-Mikheyev
- Foligno-Moore-Slaggert
DEFENCE
- Vlasic-Crevier
- Grzelcyk-Levshunov
- Korchinski-Rinzel
GOAL
Healthy scratches: F Dach, RW Lafferty, D Del Mastro
Injured: D Kaiser (lower body)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets centre Jonathan Toews on the situation his team finds itself in at the 60-game mark:
“It’s a long year. It’s easy to get caught watching the standings. And, if you get a little too excited about the stats and the points, you get a little too focused on that, then obviously it doesn’t seem like anything changes much.
“We’re just trying to really build our game. I think through 60 games, I think we’ve gotten better as a team as the season’s gone along, and now it’s time to play our best hockey and just focus on really creating that momentum and playing that playoff style every single night. We gotta go out there and find a way to win.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken is making his way back to Winnipeg from the road trip, while Mike will have a pair of stories: the first is out of a one-on-one conversation with defenceman Luke Schenn, who is open to a move by Friday’s trade deadline and currently waiting for word on whether that might happen. The second is his game analysis of Jets vs. Blackhawks from the downtown rink.
You can find both pieces online at winnipegfreepress.com and in Wednesday’s print edition.
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